Just a few more pretty coach bits

A view I don't often get! A fellow driver taking me past a southbound Highway 2 coach at the border so that our pilot truck driver Robin can meet us and whisk me away to the other border crossing at Poker Creek on the Top of the World Highway, from there MJ our safety man drove me in the jeep to Dawson City (lit by moonlight!) so that all this craziness could be logged as travel time. Next morning... epic drive from Dawson City to Fairbanks with the most fabulously patient guests ever! Over 10 hours driving with them... Insane and amazing.

Faceoff between Princess and Holland coaches in the hub of an Explorer :-)

To the left of my dash... Showing the incorrect outside temp of 102 degrees (but it was -hot- that day!) Favorite parts of this shot: (Upper right and then clockwise) "45' coach"... like I'd forget? Hehe; Upside down shot of engine break controls on steering wheel; Barely showing steering wheel adjustment knob thing... Thank you whoever designed the telescoping feature!; Parking break... Yay for breaks...; Fast idle, I promise to usually remember to turn you off myself...; Big, fabulous, best Holland coach key of all time... You never fail me; Mud/snow button, for that epic drive past Chicken, AK and the muddy hill found there; Interior AC controls that work!; And of course, defrost/driver AC controls... So thankful I can have a temp lower than 72 for myself!

Yay! Pamphlets, books, and resources in bottom corner, candy bowl (yep), Aveeno lotion (unscented for the men, happiness for my hands), two bottles of Purell (from that year we had enough bottles for that habit...), coach steps that aren't too tall, and step stool for the extra inch the coach doesn't get with kneeling!

A rare sight indeed, sunrise! This is in Beaver Creek at 4:35am, late May 2011.

Coaches reflected in coach window. Tinted so the pax won't get as tan as me :-)

Enough said. Enough said.

Not a Bus. Motor Coach!

Gah! Another month already?? Well, in this month I have done and seen much more, including adventures on the Taylor and Top of the World, then more Beaver Creek runs. Loving it :-) More recently, I had Canada Day off to celebrate in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, followed by driving in the 4th of July parade in Tok! I even threw candy to the local kids! So great.

Well, I thought I'd put up some more photos. (Finally). These are all photos of the luxury Explorer motor coaches I drive on Holland America highway trips, with a few bus photos thrown in from various deadheads and transferring pre-season :-)

A fabulous paper model of a whale Explorer coach. The moose is orange, and the bear is green... They're awesome. Really. This summer I'm pretty sure I've had a whale coach 90% of the time :p

That's right. It's me. This is just outside Fairbanks, headed for North Pole, Alaska.

Transporting a bus (yep) to Skagway in spring 2010. From Skagway this and several others are ferried to Juneau for the summer. This photo is at the Trans Alaska Pipeline suspension bridge outside of Delta Junction, two hours south of Fairbanks. Without radio reception, tape player, or ipod, this trip I was lucky to have other drivers to banter with on the two way radios... Hangman anybody?

Keepin' warm at Division Day (big training day for Fairbanks employees). Don't worry, the engine and switches were off!

Classy Explorer hubcap. At the US/Canada Border at Alcan, AK in mid June.

Whale coach crossing the Robertson River, early June when I took a car roadtrip to get the breaking river ice. This coach is deadheading to Tok to pick up guests in Dawson City headed north.

Second transfer of 2010! Nicest coaches (aside from Explorers) down to Anchorage via the Parks Highway... And then darts (sort of the exact opposite) back up to go to Dawson City. Thank goodness for books on tape! Photo taken in Cantwell.

Training in the yard, knock on wood I haven't needed these skills on the road! Aside from a chosen few "stopped on side of road" good times, all issues have been solved with a little duct tape :-)

Coaches, coaches, coaches everywhere!